Ecomcon

Like it or not, Michigan remains closely tied to the automotive industry. The ripple effect caused by those hundreds of thousands of workers being employed has in turn provided good jobs for hundreds of thousands more. Their losses in large numbers caused the opposite to happen. It is indeed unfortunate that a handful of top executives failed to see the writing on the wall for so long, and continued to make gas guzzlers. On the other hand, the Japanese manufacturers made fuel efficient models, and they ate our lunch for two decades. Now, with the advent of more fuel efficient models made by the U.S. manufacturers, we may start to make a comeback in 2-3 years. To point fingers at the governor, legislature, or anyone else does not address the initial cause of our problem.

ilovea2, I appreciate your thoughtful comments. The people in the DeVos and Prince family do indeed deserve our prayers, as does everyone. It's ironic that while they've donated much of their fortune to help people, they may be best remembered for denying people the same rights they have. Marriage can bring immeasurable joy to a person's life, in addition to the financial benefits that come from it. To expect a gay person to marry someone of the opposite sex is no more natural than expecting a straight person to marry someone from the same sex. I think the paramount message Jesus brought was to love everyone, and given that he must have met thousands of gays in his time, he never seemed to express much of a problem with them.

I enjoyed your comment,"Finally! A journalist who actually does that, reports the facts instead of their opinion or agenda." As Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, you're entitled to your own opinions, but you're not entitled to your own facts. This column by Mr. Tomlinson is called an Opinion column. That's why it's on the Opinion page. Please feel free to look at the top of the page again.

Something tells me that you voted for Bush-Cheney in 2000 ... and then, not having enough yet, voted for them again in 2004. And now you're going to vote for McCain, who had to admit that he voted with Bush 92% of the time.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice ... and then three times ...

Wingsforlife wrote: "Funny I dont see Honda and Toyota flying to Washington in separate private jets begging for taxpayer money." They don't need to. They were already heavily subsidized by the Japanese government ... after people like Bill Deming went over to help them rebuild their auto industry following World War II. The Japanese government has also been heavily involved in developing the batteries for their hybrid vehicles.

SpartanGRH wrote: "The fact is that the foreign makes have at least just as much quality and cost significantly less." That hasn't been my experience. I've gone to car lots recently and compared foreign models such as Camry and Accord with comparable U.S. models, and found that by the time the true cost is calculated, the U.S. cars are quite a bit less. And you can go to the JD Power website to see that many U.S. car companies have quality and service ratings as high as the non-US makes.

Let me respectfully (and I really mean that) try to address three general types of responses on this page so far:

1. To those like Wow49321 who have learned how to handle money: Good job! I consider myself to be in that group, but frankly, part of my learning came about through dumb luck and good genes, including two parents who lived through the 1930's.

2. To those who have learned from Dave: Good job! I think he is well intentioned, and on those rare occasions when I hear his show, people call in, sometimes emotionally, to say how much he has helped him.

3. To those of you who think Dave has made a huge truckload of money off his programs: You're absolutely right! And good job, Dave Ramsey! If everyone across the state of Michigan gets rich, and does it honestly, more power to us all. I only hope my wealth increases to the point where I can help others more, and still have enough to send my two kids to college and have enough left over to retire without too many worries.

Good insight by Peter Luke. I remember the 1976 presidential election, in which the moderate-to-liberal Jimmy Carter defeated the moderate-to-conservative Jerry Ford. Ford supported things like a conservative economy that still helped the needy, and women's rights, particularly as manifested by the Equal Rights Amendment. By today's standard, Ford would be considered a flaming liberal. With the exception of Bob Dole (a moderate) and George W. Bush (we're still trying to figure him out, on everything but cutting taxes) we've had a string of Republican candidates who, once they actually ran for the presidency, advocated depleting our economic resources. Even Reagan, after seeing what the tax cutting did during his first four years, supported tax hikes (while not calling them that) in his second term. Look at how Michigan's infrastructure is crumbling, and look at how low our taxes are compared to many states, and tell me we're overtaxed.

A great article, and a good reminder that there's a lot to see and do in Michigan at a very time when it helps to keep some of our "tourist dollars" within our very own state. And as you mention, a good way to save ourselves some money in the process. I haven't stayed at the Ren Cen since I ran the Free Press Marathon about 20 years ago, but I'm going to check it out again.

Another great attraction right now is the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Art. The DIA shows some absolutely great artwork, and Rockwell -- despite being criticized as too commercial during his lifetime -- remains one of my favorite artists.

I agree completely that I don't want to know about the sexual behaviors of others, whether they be straight or gay, married or single. But love and marriage aren't all about sex. A good relationship is built around love and an attempt at mutual understanding. However, some people in this world do not have the same rights that you and I have (like rights to be married or share common property). Having unequal rights, by definition, is discrimination. I don't think that anyone who has spent time considering what it means to be gay can think that it's a choice. And let's face it, some people don't like other people just because they're gay. That's like discriminating against another person because he or she is left-handed, or Catholic, or Protestant. In the case of left-handedness, that's obviously not a choice. And in the case of one's religion, which obviously is a choice, any American will recognize the importance of non-discrimination. Over the past 150 years, some local or state laws were passed to end racial discrimination, even though federal laws did not go that far. It's time for Kalamazoo to do what it has done so many times in the past ... take the lead on social issues, and not to be followers. And certainly not to advance discrimination.

Last August, GM's stock was worth about six times what it is now. They had great success with the new Malibu and other vehicles, with the Volt and other high-MPG cars on the horizon. So what happened? The geniuses on Wall Street and in Washington created a situation where people couldn't get credit to purchase automobiles ... from GM or anyone else. I agree that GM management made mistakes over the years, but they've been correcting them, big-time, with things like huge headcount reductions, pay cuts, and great new models that are high in quality, reasonable in cost, and get good fuel economy. Given the choice between taking a loan (which companies have been doing for decades) to stay in business, vs. going out of business and sending hundreds of thousands of people to the unemployment line, I'd get the loan.

Smallboatguy, if you and your wife have been buying Chevys for 40 years, you must like them? And now you won't buy them anymore? Just know that if you purchase a vehicle from a company like Toyota or Honda, you're purchasing from a company that has been getting an infusion of government money for many years.

Based purely on performing talent, I think Adam is an excellent singer with tremendous range who is great at conveying emotion, and in creating unique arrangements. I agree that his appearance isn't "mainstream," but you could probably say the same thing about most of the other contestants, and probably about me. I think you and I both hope that he doesn't go the route of Michael Jackson. Michael was one of the great talents of his time, with amazing singing and dancing skills, but he screwed it all up. He's a good testimonial that money doesn't buy happiness.

I didn't think Matt gave even close to his best performance on Tuesday night, and he still made it into the Top 5 (to my pleasant surprise). I think the voting over the course of this Idol season has shown that much of the voting is really done on a performance-by-performance basis (rather than an overall assessment of the individual's talent), and if Matt picks some good selections to perform over the next few weeks, he can go further than anyone gave him credit for.

Tessa, thanks for the challenge. I think your words will encourage even more local people to join the "Vote Matt" effort.

Melador, I disagree with your assessment of Adam. I think he has a great singing voice with tremendous range. And frankly, I think his selection of music has been better than Matt's (and most other contestants) over the past 4-5 weeks. But Matt, who also has great vocal range in addition to terrific piano playing, has the potential to be a more exciting performer, and over time, he'll have a great career.

Rest assured, Matt has my votes (many of them) for as long as he remains in the competition.

First of all, did I miss an announcement on Idol that Adam is gay? Maybe I missed something that he said. As far as I'm concerned, maybe he's straight, maybe he's gay, maybe he abstains from sex. I really don't care. People vote for participants based on talent, and I think Adam has an exceptional singing voice, remarkable range, and has selected good music with a few exceptions. (I've been voting for our favorite son Matt throughout the competition, and will continue to do so, because he's great.)

But if you go online and look at the picture of the seven Idol winners to date, you'll see that writer Notliberal is correct ... Idol winners have been black, white, male and female. So any claim of bias doesn't seem to be supported.

And let's not forget that just a few months ago, this country voted for a black man as our president. And we voted for him not because of his singing ability, but to lead our entire country.

Actually, 66Charger, I think you're right. I think the evidence (i.e., what the pageant judges actually said afterward) supports the notion that Miss California lost the competition because of her comment about gays. However, their position was based on her comment, not the fact that she's a Christian. I know many Christians who believe it's discriminatory for gays and lesbians not to have equal rights (e.g., to marry), and they can support their opinions by the words of their holy scripture.

One writer above said that Tonya will "make a far better candidate" than Wenke, another said Tonya is committed to "family values." I personally don't know of anyone who wants to vote for the worst candidate in an election, nor anyone who wants to vote against "family values." But everyone goes about wanting what's best in specific ways.

If anyone would like to post specifics about why they think Tonya will make a better senator... or about specific positions of hers that would make me want to vote for another candidate ... I think that'll make for some interesting reading, and I'll appreciate your taking the time to write. Thanks.

Mibluegrad: You had me! When I read "Fox News says she's a liberal," I was thinking, "And your point is? ..." Then I read your claim that she was a member of the Communist party, and that she wears a thong in gay pride parades. Fortunately, I happen to know that gay pride parades always take place on Saturdays, but that Sonia never wears her thong on the weekends. Therefore, you were just a-funnin' us! Good job!